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We arrived home tired, but safe, on Friday, September 7th.

Here is Eric at Narita Airport in Tokyo and you can see below how much luggage we had.

The 11.5 hour flight to Chicago went mostly well.  Taka slept soundly at the beginning and the end but there were a couple of hours in the middle that he was pretty fussy. We tried everything and finally landed on a selection of jazz from the headphones that chilled Taka out. 

Obviously...he is a pretty cool dude.

We had a welcome home entourage when we got off the plane.  Robin, mom and Roger, Eric's dad and, the biggest surprise, my 10-year-old nephew, Nathan, were there to meet Taka and give us hugs!

Robin, Nathan and Roger had to go home but mom and John came home with us.  Once we got home, baths were a must and Taka was first. Here he is loving his bath time!

And, Taka has had more visitors, too!  Here's Parker and JJ each getting their turn holding Taka.  They are going to be such good friends growing up together.

The Kansas City Pabens and Takahiro!

Kristy, also known as "Aunt Krizzel" also stopped by to give Taka hugs.

At church, Taka got to meet the Thomas clan, too.  James and Taka are only 5 months apart.

Mindy and Taka at our first lunch outing...of course it was the Blue Moose!

Taka snuggling up with Grandma Marcia!

And asleep on papa once again.

Taka holding on to Papa's thumb.

Our friends, Laura and Becca, brought over pizza and beer for a nice dinner outside.

It hasn't been all fun and games.  In fact, we've all had a little jet lag to get over.  

But, we've had some fun, too!

Greta has her arm on Eric as if to say, "This is my dad, too"

Taka loves his Papa!

Overall, we are adjusting well. With jet lag and "Taka Time" we have been pretty tired but it's been great to have Grandma Marcia and Papa's help. We are trying to find our new schedule at home which will come. The cooler weather has made everything so nice that its been great just to be home.

Now, if we could just get as much sleep as Taka. ;) 

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We are all packed up and ready togo. It has been an amazing experience and one that has only just begun. Soon, we will be in a cab to another hotel, a bus to the airport, a plane to Chicago and another plane home. We have really enjoyed our time in Tokyo - this trip, in receiving Takahiro into our family, has been so special and we are very grateful. Now we are looking forward to getting home and settling in as a family. 

On our last day, we visited my work colleagues at Dentsu Y&R. This would be their first visit with  Takahiro and everyone was very excited. 

Here we are with Riwa-san and Shiro-san. 

They provided a great lunch of different onigiri and also these desserts that are custards or puddings made inside the egg shell. So cool and so delicious. After lunch, we took in the Shiba Rikyu Garden near the train station. The weather was a little cooler so we could handle the heat with Taka. The garden was very beautiful and it was amazing how much of a sanctuary the place was in the midst of this bustling city. Here are a few picts:

Finally, back to the apartment for packing. We have 3 large suitcases and two smaller bags. Its been quite a challenge to get everything in. You can seen in the above photo our baby bag for the plane. This is our full diaper reserve with wipes, food and clothes. Might be a little excessive for a 24 hour period but I want to be sure we have enough...you never know.  Taka has been averaging 25 diapers a day.

After packing we headed out to meet Ogawa-san one last time to say goodbye. It was great seeing her again and we are so grateful for all she has done for us. 

Today, we bared the heat and headed across the street to the Zo-zoji temple. It was built in the late 1300's and like most historic sites in Tokyo, the original building was destroyed by the US bombings during WWII. But reconstructed in the 70's, you still get a sense of the majestic grounds and beautiful architecture that makes this temple so cool. 

Here is Mindy and Taka walking to the temple from our apartment. 

Some details shots of the outer wall. 

To get a sense of scale, that is Mindy underneath the blue umbrella! Here are a few more shots from around the grounds:

I was really glad we visited, and being so close, we quickly got home and out of the heat. Taka took a bath and then decided to give us a bit of a show with his first official day of cooing. It was TOO cute. Here are a few pix from the cooing-fest:

We finally got Taka down for a nap after a bit of fussing and we were both starved. We decided to hit up this bento place just a half a block from the apartment that makes some amazing curry and rice. 

Its definitely a hole in the wall and you would totally pass it by if you weren't paying attention but aren't the best places always that way?

A peek inside...

And digging in. So good. With full tummies, we all took naps and at 700PM we met up with our Canadian friends for one last visit. We decided to go to the crepe place at Tokyo Tower which is totally good. 

I hadn't eaten dinner so I started with a chicken and curry crepe and then on to a Strawberry ice cream with Strawberry's crepe. Awesome. 

Mindy had the marron chocolate crepe.

But what took best was Mindy's kakigori (shaved ice) with strawberry and mango flavors. The ice is shaved so thin that it feels like flavored air in your mouth. I have had shaved ice back home and didn't think much of it but this was amazing. 

Then we just sat and chatted. We had a great time and will be sure to keep in touch!  

Mindy must be telling a pretty good story.  Thumbs up.